Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

[Richard M.]

These videos are dedicated to my deceased friend Chuck McSheehy. Chuck helped me rebuild the FI Unit on this car just before he died, the first fuelie ever for me. Chuck went to Corvette heaven just over 2 years ago. While I was going through the gears I felt he was there with me saying things like "Pissa......Wicked Pissa"! He always loved to say that. This is the solid lifter 315 HP version.

My good friend John Baldwin helped me assemble the rebuilt unit sections that Chuck and I restored. I had all steel Cadmium plated, and all aluminum pieces restored by Fred Hudson in Oklahoma. 2 weeks ago we broke-in the 283 engine with the FI unit, and other than a distributor tooth hiccup on my part, the unit ran flawlessly. After engine break in and continued run operations, my good friend Frank invited me to run it up on his chassis dyno. I need to install front bumpers and a few odds and ends and my friend Tom from NY will come to bring it back to his home.

Special thanks to Frank, his brother Bill and Bill's son Willy for this testing. The car isn't registered and cannot be driven on legal roads so this was a great way to get some time on it. It was a bit intimidating up there but it certainly was fun.

Chuckie.....WE DID IT!!

Rich
PS Also many thanks to Jim Lockwood and John DeGregory for helping me work out a leaky Fuel Meter Pump Surface and other small issues with the fuel injection system.

You can jump up to about 2 minutes in for the runup after setup time.

[Richard M.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Video from inside. A bit shaky holding the cell and shifting. Didn't have to steer it thankfully.

[Richard M.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Walkaround after testing.

[Ed S.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Number, numbers, give us some numbers Richard. How did the engine do? Torque, HP? Please do share, I am sure many of us are anxious to hear the results - line graphs would be great if you have them and can post. Thanks

[David C.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Richard, thanks for sharing! The car sounds awesome -- nothing small about that small block!!

[Eric E.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Very nice Rich. Thanks for posting this!
Agree, numbers!

[Mark S.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

I also enjoyed the video! I hope to get my 61 FI running that well.

[Nicholas L.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Terrific video. thanks for sharing!

[Mike F.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

If it was on a Dynojet, I'll guess 220rwhp +/-.

[Joe C.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Sounded like he shut it off at around 4500 RPM and by the rate of RPM climb, I'll guess 180 RWHP.

[Richard M.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Gents,

Apologies, but we couldn't get numbers as we were mainly trying to get some run time on the car because it cannot be driven legally on the roads as it's not registered. It will be when it gets back home. I wanted to run it for some time to work out any bugs before my friend takes the car home. Fortunately the car ran great and I now feel extremely confident it'll be fine for him. The other nice thing about the Dyno was it's much safer way to test the car as opposed to running it hard on the road.

The original plan was to get data while on the dyno but we didn't have time to set it all up and do that. I didn't want to tie up the lift as they had lots going on there as they are a very busy crew. I got about a half hour of run time. Seems like a small amount but it was a great way to test the engine and drivetrain, and also to have a little fun. I had never done that before. I admit I was intimidated by driving a car at speed with no sense of feeling any G force acceleration, other than feeling the car raise up and drop down during shifts.

BTW, it's a Posi with 4:11 gears. Actually it's a Posi with the RPO 686 code for Metallic brakes. It now has stock brake shoes for driveability.

Rich

[Bruce B.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Rich,
While at a SACC convention a number of years ago in Bowling Green ,KY we visited a head porting shop and were told to come back later if we wanted to run our car on their dyno. I was driving my 62 Corvette with a Ramjet 350 FI crate engine.
I was the only one to go back and as you stated it was intimidating.
We did 3 pulls and the shop guy did the first one. We decided on 5100 rpm (I think) and he got in and did it, OK.
Now my turn. I got in , went through the gears up to the designated rpm point. I used the tach on the dyno screen and I never thought we would get to the designated rpm. But we did.
I did it again and all was fine, but I was glad it was over.
BTW my wife and I drove he car the 200+ miles to Bowling Green and then drove it home.
Good experience.
Bruce B

[James G.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

Excellent show Rich. I wish I had a dyno back in 1989-94 era when I vintage raced my 64 FI convertible. I set everything in those days on a static Sun tune up machine and also used my California approved SMOG Sun tester in tune up mode to make air fuel ratio adjustments. Car had a TI ignition with a MSD 6-AL snuck under the glove box to conceal from tech inspectors. That car was my favorite driver......only on weekends for 14 hours per day including all the fun of the people. Jim Lockwood will agree. Often he was there also.

What a great tribute to Chuck. As I said.......''IT'S THE PEOPLE, THAT MAKES THIS HOBBY SO MUCH FUN''

[Mike F.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

I'm kind of confused with some of the statements referencing "running thru the gears". A typical dyno run starts with the car in 4th gear at 1000-1500rpm (or whichever gear is closest to 1:1 based on your transmission), you then simply floor it to redline (or any rpm that you're comfortable with). That's pretty much it.

[Mark E.]

Re: Chassis Dyno'd 1961 Corvette Today

I'm kind of confused with some of the statements referencing "running thru the gears". A typical dyno run starts with the car in 4th gear at 1000-1500rpm (or whichever gear is closest to 1:1 based on your transmission), you then simply floor it to redline (or any rpm that you're comfortable with). That's pretty much it.

I'm not a dyno expert by a long shot, but what you're describing is a procedure for measuring power and torque as a function of engine speed. I believe Richard's purpose was to check the drivetrain for normal operation and identify problems to iron out. And maybe even have some fun.